STOCKTON - Jovanna Gonsalves works and lives in the best of two worlds: She's a contract analyst with First 5 San Joaquin, and she's active in her church.

Her mission these days is to help those two worlds merge in improving early childhood development outcomes.

"I grew up in church. My parents are pastors," Gonsalves said. "I really believe in the local church's ability to impact the community. There is a lot of good they can do if they are equipped with the right resources and a little bit of funding."

Gonsalves outlined First 5's faith-based community initiative at the quarterly Mayor's Clergy Breakfast, hosted Wednesday by University of the Pacific. Stockton's clergy leaders started gathering regularly 12 years ago.

First 5 San Joaquin was created following the 1998 passage of Proposition 10, the statewide ballot measure that added a 50-cent tax on cigarettes to be used for early childhood development programs.

Its mission is to prepare the county's youngest children, those prenatal to age 5, for success in their education.

Gonsalves said $25,000 was being made available in $1,000 increments to religious organizations willing to help prepare "children to enter school ready to learn and succeed."

Speaking to two dozen members of the clergy, Gonsalves said the amount may not seem like a lot, "but it can be used as seed money to do something."

San Joaquin County, she and others explained, is in need:

» Only 36 percent of the county's third-graders are reading at grade level.

» The overall literacy rate is less than 50 percent.

» There is a generational disconnect. Too many parents who were never read to don't understand the important role they play in helping preschool children learn.

» Literacy - or the lack of it - remains a linchpin in a host of Stockton-area problems: unemployment, homelessness, poverty and crime.

"By the time children are in kindergarten, they are over the hill," said Lani Schiff-Ross, executive director of First 5 San Joaquin. "Our goal is to help kids be ready to learn when they enter school."

She and Gonsalves are trying to develop a bigger role for the faith-based community.

First 5 and San Joaquin A+ co-sponsored the clergy breakfast.

Jennifer Torres-Siders, community relations manager at Pacific, helped develop the university's campaign to improve reading and literacy by the third grade. It is an offshoot of President Pamela Eibeck's "Beyond Our Gates" program.

"We want to make sure kids have early learning opportunities," Torres-Siders said. "If you wait, you are already behind."

As part of the third-grade emphasis, Pacific has developed an annual report card on literacy. The 2012 findings were not encouraging:

» Third-grade language-arts proficiency: Well below the California average of 48 percent.

» Preschool enrollment: At 42 percent, it is below the statewide average of 50 percent.

» New mothers without a high school diploma: In California, 22 percent of new moms fail to graduate. In the county, the rate is 30 percent.

» Truancy rate: It stands at 30 percent and roughly equal to the state average.

» Library books borrowed per capita: This number is below the state average and trending downward. Californians borrow about 6.2 books per capita. County residents borrow at a 2.7-book-per-capita rate. The national average is 8.1.

Gonsalves, who has worked with First 5 for eight years, calls the issues surrounding her faith and early learning "near and dear to my heart."

She is an active member of Stockton's Harvest Church Ministries, where her parents, Frank and Ivie Gonsalves, are co-pastors. They were at Wednesday's clergy breakfast.

"She's awesome," Mom said. "Fabulous," Dad echoed.

Jovanna Gonsalves, an honors graduate from the University of California, Irvine, clearly understands the important role her parents have played in her life.

One of the mini-grant requirements is a parenting component.

Every speaker Wednesday morning emphasized the value of mothers and fathers in reading to their children, in interacting with their children and in being the first teachers of their children.